covenant

English

Alternative forms

• covenaunt (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English, borrowed from Old French covenant (“agreement”), from Latin conveniēns, convenientem (“agreeing, agreeable, suitable, convenient”), present participle of conveniō (“to agree”). Cognate with convenient and convene.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkʌv.ən.ənt/, /ˈkʌv.nənt/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Noun

covenant (plural covenants)

1. (law) An agreement to do or not do a particular thing.
2. (law) A promise, incidental to a deed or contract, either express or implied.
3. A pact or binding agreement between two or more parties.
4. An incidental clause in an agreement.

Synonyms

• Thesaurus:pact
• Thesaurus:agreement

Related terms

• Ark of the Covenant
• covenant of salt
• covenant of title
• New Covenant
• Old Covenant on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• religious covenant on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• biblical covenant on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• exclusionary covenants on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Mosaic covenant on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• New Covenant theology on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Covenant marriage on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Covenant theology on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Covenantal nomism on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Translations

agreement to do or not to do

• Finnish: sopimus (fi)
• French: accord (fr) m
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Galician: acordo (gl) m
• Russian: договорённость (ru) f (dogovorjónnostʹ)

promise incidental to a deed or contract

• Finnish: sitoumus (fi)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}

binding agreement

• Arabic: ميثاق m, عَهْد m (ʕahd)
• Armenian: ուխտ (hy) (uxt)
• Bulgarian: договор (bg) m (dogovor)
• Czech: dohoda (cs) f
• Danish: pagt
• Dutch: verbond (nl) n
• Finnish: sitoumus (fi)
• French: pacte (fr) m, convention (fr) f, alliance (fr) f
• Galician: avinza (gl) f, convenio m, pacto m
• German: Bund (de) m
• Greek: συμφωνία (el) f (symfonía), σύμφωνο (el) n (sýmfono), συνθήκη (el) f (synthíki), σύμβαση (el) f (sýmvasi)

  Ancient: διαθήκη (diathḗkē)

• Hebrew: ברית (he) f (brit)
• Indonesian: perjanjian (id)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Italian: patto (it) m, accordo solenne m, contratto (it) m, convenzione (it) f, alleanza (it) f
• Japanese: 誓約 (ja) (seiyaku)
• Latin: pactiō f
• Maori: kawenata
• Plautdietsch: Bunt n
• Polish: ugoda (pl) f, umowa (pl) f
• Portuguese: pacto (pt) m, contrato (pt) m, promessa (pt) f
• Romanian: legământ (ro)
• Russian: догово́р (ru) m (dogovór)
• Scottish Gaelic: cùmhnant m
• Slovak: pakt m, zmluva f, dohoda (sk) f
• Spanish: convenio (es) m, contrato (es) m, alianza (es) f, pacto (es) m
• Swedish: pakt (sv) c, överenskommelse (sv) c, förbund (sv) n, avtal (sv) n

incidental clause

• Bulgarian: спогодба (bg) f (spogodba)
• Finnish: ehto (fi), sopimusehto
• French: clause (fr) f
• German: Zusage (de)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Italian: clausola accessoria f, clausola secondaria f
• Japanese: 特約 (tokuyaku)
• Spanish: cláusula (es) f

Verb

covenant (third-person singular simple present covenants, present participle covenanting, simple past and past participle covenanted)

1. To enter into, or promise something by, a covenant.
   • (Can we date this quote by L'Estrange and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)

     Jupiter covenanted with him, that it should be hot or cold, wet or dry, […] as the tenant should direct.

   • Bible, Matthew xxvi. 15

     and they covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver

2. (law) To enter a formal agreement.
3. (law) To bind oneself in contract.
4. (law) To make a stipulation.

Related terms

• convenience
• convenient
• convene
• convent

• convention
• covenable
• covenantee

Translations

to enter into a covenant

• Bulgarian: споразумявам се (sporazumjavam se), договарям се (dogovarjam se)
• Finnish: sitoutua (fi)
• Italian: accordarsi (it), impegnarsi (it), convenzionarsi, allearsi (it)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Japanese: 約束する (yakusokusuru)
• Polish: umówić się (pl)
• Swedish: avtala (sv)

to enter a formal agreement

• Finnish: sitoutua (fi)
• Italian: stipulare (it), convenire (it), stilare un accordo, sottoscrivere, concludere (it), contrarre (it)
• Japanese: 契約する (keiyakusuru)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Polish: zawrzeć umowę
• Russian: заключа́ть соглаше́ние (zaključátʹ soglašénije)
• Swedish: avtala (sv)

Further reading

• “covenant”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “covenant”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• “covenant”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “covenant”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

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Old French

Etymology

From Latin conveniēns, conveniēntem (“agreeing, agreeable, suitable, convenient”), present participle of conveniō (“to agree”).

Verb

covenant

1. present participle of covenir

Noun

covenant oblique singular, m (oblique plural covenanz or covenantz, nominative singular covenanz or covenantz, nominative plural covenant)

1. covenant
   • circa 1150, Thomas d'Angleterre, Le Roman de Tristan, page 220 (of the Champion Classiques edition, →ISBN, line 2895:

     Del convenant vus deit membrer

     You must remember the convenant

Descendants

• English: covenant
• French: convenant